Original Sin: Investigating the World’s Earliest Known Murder (Video)

Original Sin

Investigating the world’s earliest known murder.

The 430,000-year-old skull was found at the bottom of a 43-foot vertical shaft in an archeological site known as Sima de los Huesos in northern Spain. In a paper published in PLOS ONE, the researchers suggest the fractures were likely caused by repeated blows made with the intention to kill.

Update, Nov. 28, 2016: This video has been removed pending the resolution of a licensing claim.

Jim Festante is an actor/writer in Los Angeles and regular video contributor to Slate. He is the author of the Image Comics miniseries The End Times of Bram and Ben.